Augusta toddler drowns in pond in shadow of new home
Boy's body was found about 30 feet from the backyard of his new home on River Bluff Drive where the family had not yet moved
About 9 a.m., Chance Amerson Jr. was reported missing from the 2800 block of River Bluff Drive after his father put him down on a bed to watch TV, the Richmond County Sheriff's Office said.
The boy apparently got up and slipped out of the back door and was found in a nearby pond about 12 minutes later, Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen said. A deputy was performing CPR when Bowen arrived, he said.
Amerson was taken to Augusta University Medical Center, where he later died, the sheriff's office said. Bowen said an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
The family had just moved to the home Thursday and was preparing for a housewarming party Saturday before they moved in, a neighbor said.
“A family had just bought the house and they were fixing to move in this weekend. . . . The mom had brought her daughter to another neighbor’s house to go swimming,” said Danny Johnson, whose house is across the street from where the drowning occurred.
Johnson and others said they heard the mother screaming for help. When they ran outside, she was running around saying, “He’s at the bottom of the pond.”
Johnson said the father jumped into the pond, followed by a neighbor, Lester Jackson. They found the child and pulled him out of the water; however, it was too late, he said.
“It’s just a tragic situation,” Johnson said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. We just want them to know that we’re here and we will continue to pray for them.”
The drowning is the second recent one in the area.
On July 4, the body of Felix Brown, 14, was found in a pond off Chestnut Street in South Augusta after he had been missing for three days. Richmond County authorities have said the drowning occurred accidentally.
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